The Plan
by LilacSky128
Summary: Morgana's plan was simple. Lure Arthur out, capture and destroy. Possibly take over Camelot for good measure. Only then Merlin came along. And everything got a lot more complicated.
1. Prologue

Frederick was not a particularly active man. Nevertheless, he did have one solemn ritual and that was that every evening he would take a walk. The same route. The same pace. The same time. He never stopped. Never paused in his motion. The walk was ritual. Regular.

Except for this one time.

And then he had a very good reason.

He saw the glow from beyond the trees whilst he was still a way off. He fooled himself into thinking that it could be the sun, but he knew the sun was setting and the golden glow was nothing like the blood red tinge which had eked its way into the sky.

Anyone else would have turned around from that path, walked another way or even gone back home. But not Frederick. It was on his route, and so he would continue.

He walked until he saw her.

A woman. Young. Beautiful.

She had long, lustrous, raven black hair which tumbled down her back wildly. Her eyes were glowing and she was bent over what looked to be a cauldron of some putrid green liquid.

And this made Frederick stop.

He had lived a fairly quiet and simple life. He did not like to involve himself in politics and he certainly had no opinion on land or taxes. But this, this was magic. And magic was something that he would certainly like to keep away from.

And so he turned away.

But as he was doing so, he heard one word, just one word from the woman's lips that made it impossible to simply turn away.

"_Camelot."_

Frederick had never been one to involve himself in the business of nobles, but he was an honourable man and loyal to his king.

And so he turned from his previous path and resolutely started to make the long walk to Camelot.

Morgana, hearing the snapping of twigs behind her, was still for a moment before she allowed a slow smile to spread over her face.

Then she straightened, abandoning the cauldron as it returned to looking like water, and swept away from the clearing.

She had much to prepare.


	2. Chapter 1

Arthur's forehead creased in worry as he asked the man who stood nervously before him to repeat himself.

"It was just as I said, er… sire-"

"I struggle with calling him that too," Merlin interjected.

Frederick nodded, looking torn between amusement and confusion, and continued, "Er, I saw this woman standing in front of this cauldron. She was- she was muttering all these words, not that I understood them mind. But still, I could tell they were magic, on account of her eyes being all gold."

"Right," said Arthur. "And what did you say she looked like?"

"Er, well, she had long dark hair. Er, she was young, about your age, if you don't mind me saying, sire. And," he shrugged a little sheepishly. "If you were of a mind to notice it she was beautiful as well."

"Morgana," Merlin said immediately .

Arthur looked at him and he shrugged.

"Right," said Arthur, a deep seated feeling of dread already starting to settle in. "See that this man has somewhere to stay the night." He waved some of the guards off and the man left, glancing nervously back. "And, Merlin?"

"Yep."

"Call a meeting of the Round table will you. Quickly," he sighed. "If you can manage it."

* * *

><p>Remarkably quickly - Arthur had to concede - a meeting of the round table council was called. Arthur had set up this council fairly swiftly in the aftermath of Morgana's attempt to take over Camelot; it was one of the ways in which he was managing to keep a hold over the Kingdom that had lost its King. He still held the ordinary council meetings but he found that they were more formality than anything else. The Round table meetings were where things were actually <em>done.<em>

"We have received news that Morgana may be attempting to take over Camelot," Arthur announced to the consternation of… well, nobody.

Gwaine groaned whilst Leon said, "Morgana? Again?"

"Yes," said Gwaine, leaning forward on the table. "But - and please believe me on this - _there is no need for you to wear a dress again."_

Several members of the council hid laughter - some more successfully than others - whilst Leon glared at Gwen. Really, had there been any need for her to let slip to _Gwaine _of all people? And Gwaine had, in turn - of course - told everyone.

Right. More important things happening.

"We can't know for sure when she will attack, but we know that there will probably be some sort of attempt to disarm us… magically, probably." Arthur took a deep breath. "Which is why we're going to go to her."

The round table sat up at that. "Are you sure that's wise sire?" Gaius asked. "You have said before that the citadel is Camelot's best defence."

"But Morgana got into the citadel. Granted, technically she was in it already, but that doesn't matter. She," Arthur paused. "She grew up here," he swallowed. "Which means that she knows the castle well. We can't trust a final line of defence. We're going to have to attack first.

"We know where she was last sighted, which means we have an advantage. The man who saw her is fairly certain that she didn't see him, and let's face it he wouldn't still be here if she had."

"So…" said Gwaine. "When are we going?"

"Immediately." Arthur replied. "But Gaius is right, so if this fails, we need people back here.

"Gwaine, Lancelot, Percival, you're with me. The rest stay here, and prepare defences as a precaution."

As the three mentioned rose up so did Merlin and Arthur sighed, "That includes you Merlin."

Merlin looked surprised. "It does not," he said, without thinking.

Arthur raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

Merlin seemed to realise what he'd said and sighed, "Sorry, but… why?"

"It's dangerous."

"And I've never been with you before when you go on dangerous quests?" Merlin looked completely bemused.

"Look, Merlin," Arthur exhaled loudly. "It might get ugly in there and, if it does… I can't be preoccupied with your protection."

Merlin seemed to hold back a laugh, but he regained himself, "You really don't need to worry about _my _protection, Arthur."

"Merlin. This is not up for discussion. You're staying here."

Merlin straightened and said, his voice laden with irritation, "Yes, _sire."_

Gwaine clapped Merlin on the shoulder as the Knights filed out. "Hey," he muttered. "I think that's the prat's way of saying he cares."

Merlin smiled wryly. "If only he knew," he muttered and, at Gwaine's confused look, shook his head. "Never mind. Good luck."

"Ah, you know me, Merlin," Gwaine held out his hands. "I don't need luck."

Merlin shook his head as they left. They might not need luck, but they would certainly need him.

It truly was a miracle that Arthur had survived as long as he had before Merlin came into his life.

* * *

><p>Whilst readying his armour, Arthur glanced up at the door being pushed open and his face relaxed into a warm smile, rarely seen by anyone else. Gwen smiled back, closing the door with a muted thud.<p>

"No Merlin?" she asked, half teasingly as she surveyed Arthur putting on his armour himself.

Arthur smiled. "No, I thought he had more important things to do, what with readying the city for a possible siege."

Gwen moved closer to him and took Arthur's wrist in her hands, "He's not really mad, you know," she said as she worked on the straps.

"I don't care, anyway. _I_ have more important things to worry about."

Gwen gave Arthur a look that told him he wasn't fooling anyone, but didn't push, instead saying, "You know, I taught Merlin how to do this when he first became your servant."

"What? Put on my armour?"

Gwen nodded.

Arthur grinned. "I thought he got good at it way too quickly. Although he did keep forgetting to give me my sword."

"Hey," said Gwen, presenting him with his sword. "I'm not a miracle worker."

They were closer together now, and she looked up at him, her eyes wide as she said, "Come back safe."

"I will," Arthur said, before leaning down to kiss her. It was only brief, but the time in which their lips met spoke volumes. So much so in fact that when the time came for them to pull apart no more needed to be said, and Gwen pressed a hand to his chest before walking out without a word.

* * *

><p>Gaius thought that Merlin had been surprisingly quiet all evening and so, once they had finished their meal, he was naturally suspicious when Merlin suddenly stood up.<p>

"Where are you going Merlin?"

"Oh, I thought I'd go muck out the stables. Keep busy, you know."

"Right," Gaius nodded. "But, Merlin?" Merlin turned just before he reached the doorway. "Didn't you do that this morning?"

"Did I?" asked Merlin. "Well, you know what they say, a horse's stable can never be too clean."

As he headed out again, Gaius murmured. "Hmm, and Merlin?"

"Yes Gaius."

"I hear the Knights are heading off from the courtyard."

Merlin grinned. "I know."

And then he disappeared, leaving Gaius to mutter to an empty room, "And _be careful, _Merlin."

* * *

><p><em>Well, I already had this chapter written so I thought I'd post, but I wouldn't expect all updates to be this quick! I apologise for the shortness of the prologue and hope that it hasn't turned you off the story. Most of these chapters are about this length - which is quite short for me, but that may change. I realise there wasn't much to review in the prologue but I hope now you can see a little bit of where the story is going, you will find time to let me know what you think; I'd really appreciate it.<em>

_Anyway, thanks for reading!_


	3. Chapter 2

Arthur put a finger to his lips and took a step forward. They were staying low at the moment but were very close to launching their attack. They had come to the nearest castle to where Morgana had been sighted; it seemed likely that she would be using it as a base.

"Arthur!" Gwaine hissed, and Arthur refrained from rolling his eyes. If Gwaine had one failing as a Knight it was his inability to stay quiet. However, there was always the chance that he actually had something useful to contribute.

"What?"

"Can you hear that?"

Arthur listened; sure enough, there was the sound of a cracking twig. Ordinarily, he would have dismissed it as a wild animal or just a townsperson taking a stroll, but he had found recently that sometimes it was better to be safe than sorry.

He swivelled to the source of the noise; it was coming from within the forest, that much was certain. So Arthur approached the large tree, which seemed to him to be the perfect hiding place.

_Think as your enemy thinks…_

Arthur sensed rather than saw movement and quick as a whip he had rounded the tree with Lancelot, Gwaine and Percival on opposite sides and held the stranger at sword point.

"Well, this seems like a little bit of an overreaction."

Who, it turned out, was not a stranger at all.

"_Mer_lin."

Merlin smiled weakly. "Hello Arthur." He looked down to where Arthur still had his sword pressed to his neck. "Do you mind?"

Arthur lowered his weapon and Merlin stepped forward, readying himself for the onslaught.

"What the hell do you think you are doing here?" Arthur yelled - or he would have done, had they not been on somewhat of a covert operation, as it was he sort of hissed it loudly. And with venom.

"Er."

"I'm waiting Merlin."

Merlin offered a shrug. "Picking… herbs…" he grinned. "Or whatever I do in my spare time."

Arthur glared at him. "I expressly forbade you from coming with us."

"I am as shocked as you are."

"Merlin," cut in Gwaine. "Do you honestly think anyone's buying this?"

"I've found that Arthur will generally buy anything."

"Watch it, Merlin," Arthur growled. Lancelot looked vaguely amused by the whole thing, as did Gwaine. Percival looked fairly impassive, although, Arthur noted, none of them looked altogether surprised.

In all honesty, neither was he.

Of course, when given a direct order, Merlin would disregard it utterly.

"You need to leave."

"Oh, come on Arthur."

"Merlin in case you've forgotten, you _are _actually supposed to do what I say. Whether you want to or not."

Merlin looked down, and when he spoke it was in a short clipped tone, with an undercurrent of steel. "I hadn't forgotten," he said. "But when you continue to make _bone-headed _decisions, I'm not about to let you go and get yourself killed."

Arthur was taken back by this rather passionate speech - and confused. "How on earth is you not being here going to get me killed?"

Merlin looked up. "Never mind, point is-" Merlin's gaze drifted past Arthur. He looked surprised and said in a horrified voice, "Point is," he said slowly, "that we've just discovered an ambush."

Arthur turned on his heel, sword at the ready as several armed men appeared from bushes. He heard a gasp from Lancelot and a groan from Gwaine and Percival as they readied themselves for battle.

One thing was for sure: Morgana had known they were coming.

_This _was precisely why Merlin needed to accompany Arthur on these trips.

Merlin once again found himself cursing the utter pigheadedness of the Once and Future King, as he got ready to save his life. Again. Probably.

He quickly assessed the situation. They were outnumbered, that was true, but not by too many. The plan had clearly been to surprise them, which had been set off course by himself forewarning Arthur.

_There you go, Morgana, _he thought wryly, _that's another of your plans I've messed up._

Merlin quickly focused on the battle. Arthur was fighting a man, but appeared to be holding his own quite well. Gwaine, Lancelot and Percival were all fighting about five men together and, Merlin noted somewhat proudly, they were all holding their own as well.

That was when he spotted the man coming up beside Arthur.

He glanced up and, when no handily placed branches were there to fall on anyone's head, looked back and muttered "_Forbaern," _and the man dropped his sword as his hand was burnt.

Merlin breathed a slight sigh of relief, but his brief respite only lasted a moment as another group came out of the bushes to the other side.

_Of course, _he thought, _a second wave._

As the Knights let out cries of shock at the other men emerging, Merlin was halted in his attempt to help by a dagger at his throat.

"Give up, or the boy dies," a grisly voice from behind him said.

The men ceased fighting as they all turned to see Merlin being held hostage.

Merlin sighed. This was exactly why it was very inconvenient that no one knew about his magic. Except Lancelot, but it was unlikely that they could fool Arthur that he was having some sort of hallucination. If he had been able to do so without revealing himself, he could have had the man off him in a moment. As it was, he had to stay still, and look for all the world like he really was the victim.

Gwaine dropped his weapon immediately. Arthur seemed to be frozen in shock before slowly laying down his weapon as well. Percival followed suit. Lancelot looked at Merlin for a long moment, clearly wondering whether Merlin had some sort of plan. Merlin grimaced at him and Lancelot sighed and also dropped his sword.

The man jerked his head back against the tree that he was pinned against, and Merlin saw lights popping in front of his eyes.

_Oh, _he thought vaguely, _this must be what it's like for Arthur._

Then he remembered: Arthur.

Arthur was in danger. They were all in danger. His friends. And with that last thought translated as a strong burst of magic, he drifted into the blackness.

_Please, keep them safe…_

* * *

><p>Arthur had a sensation much like he was being pushed through a very narrow tube whilst being hit repeatedly over the head.<p>

When he sat up he blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.

No, he was still… perfectly safe.

Which was odd.

Because, one moment he had been about to be captured by Morgana's men - at least he assumed them to be Morgana's men - and the next he had been pushed down the aforementioned tube and had ended up… here.

Wherever here was.

He looked around, seeing Gwaine, Lancelot and Percival all sitting up in similar states of disorientation.

Gwaine's gaze connected with his, and Arthur could see that they were both struck by the same thought:

"Where's Merlin?"

"_The idiot." _

Arthur, Gwaine and Percival all turned to the unexpected source of the comment: Lancelot. Even Arthur would have admitted that he - Arthur - would be more likely to insult Merlin than Lancelot.

But Lancelot had leapt up and seemed to be utterly unaware of their presence at all.

"The idiot. He's left himself there." Lancelot ran a hand through his already dishevelled hair. "He's saved us, and _left himself there. _Probably to be killed because, hey, that was probably their aim. Honestly, what is the point of having m-" Lancelot spun on his heel and seemed to be suddenly reawakened to their presence.

"What was that, Lancelot?" asked Gwaine.

"Ah, that was-"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing, I was just…"

Arthur, though, could only think of one thing:

"Having what, Lancelot?" he stared at Lancelot, his eyes wide and staring. "_Having what?"_

* * *

><p><em>Ah, cliffhangers, how we love thee... Sorry this has taken a while to get out; I'm still not precisely sure of how it all hangs together. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, but, until then, please review!<br>_


	4. Chapter 3

Merlin's first thought was that his head hurt.

He felt fairly justified in this being his first thought, as he was disoriented and, well, his head bloody hurt.

After this thought though, his brain seemed to catch up to the more pressing matters at hand.

He sat up, observing that he was in a bleak, dark cell, which was completely empty save him. He noted this with relief, as he remembered that sudden burst of magic that he could only hope had gotten Arthur and the others to safety.

He grimaced. Of course, explaining how he had transported his friends was something he would have to worry about later.

"The prisoner's awake."

He glanced up to the small grille in the door and saw two beady eyes staring through at him. They swiftly disappeared and he heard the sounds of footsteps hurrying down the corridor.

Moments later the returned, this time accompanied by lighter footsteps - Merlin felt he had a pretty good idea as to whom they belonged.

The door swung open, and Merlin looked up from his rather undignified position to recognise the entrants.

"Merlin," Morgana said. "This is a surprise."

Merlin smiled somewhat wryly. "Actually," he said. "It really isn't."

No one had said anything for about five minutes. Gwaine was beginning to become slightly worried that Lancelot wouldn't actually come up with an excuse for this one.

"Well," said the Prince, still looking expectantly at a completely gob smacked Lancelot. "I'm waiting."

"So are we all," muttered Gwaine. And then, louder, "Well, what Lancelot obviously meant was… was…" Damn, coming up with an excuse for this one was harder than anticipated.

Arthur turned his glare on Gwaine, his confused eyes flicking between the two as he said, "You cannot seriously be telling me that… that… that Merlin has…"

"Well, sire," said Gwaine jovially. "It looks like you're not quite as stupid as he says you are."

"Wait," said Lancelot. "Do _you_know?"

Gwaine paused. "Knowledge," he said. "Is a tricky thing. I might know something. I might have guessed something. I might have thought that everyone in the castle was completely oblivious and thick. I might have done all these things. But if I had," here he fixed Lancelot with somewhat of a glare. "I would not have said anything about aforementioned possible knowledge."

Lancelot looked thoroughly confused. And then guilty.

"Wait," said Arthur. "What?"

Right, thought Gwaine. When all else failed, go for confusion. "What, what?"

"What?"

"Exactly."

"Look, I don't know what's going on here. But I do know exactly what I do care about. Which is this: number 1: How on earth we ended up here. Number 2: What Merlin has to do with it. And number 3: Where on earth is my idiot of a servant and what did you mean about him getting killed?" Arthur's voice rose until it was a shout and, looking into blue eyes which seemed simultaneously to be icy cool and on fire with anger, Gwaine thought that it would take a much stronger man than himself to not be a little afraid of the Future King.

Gwaine could therefore only imagine how Lancelot must be feeling as the Prince's fury was turned on him.

Lancelot sighed. "Well," he said slowly. "It's like this…"

"Actually," continued Merlin. "It's kind of predictable if you think about it. I mean the whole kidnapping thing that is. After all," he smiled sweetly. "You have done it before."

Merlin felt a full stinging slap across his face without Morgana moving from her position.

"Well," he put a hand up to his cheek. "You have advanced."

"I meant," said Morgana through gritted teeth. "That it is a surprise to see only you here."

"Oh," Merlin smiled. "Did the others get away then? Thanks for letting me know."

Merlin thought vaguely that antagonising Morgana was probably not the smartest thing to be doing in this situation.

At the present moment, he thought that he didn't much care.

Morgana's face twisted into a sneer. "Yes, Merlin. They did get away. Or should I say: they seemed to vanish into thin air. Any idea how that may have happened?"

Ah.

"That-" Merlin swallowed. "That sounds like it could be magic."

Merlin honestly didn't know why he talked sometimes.

"Exactly," came a new voice, and Merlin looked up to see Morgause stepping through the door of his cell. His heart sank. "And that is most curious, isn't it, Merlin?"

"Oh," said Merlin. "You're fine then? I was worried that after being thrown into a wall you might be-"

"Dead?" Morgause threw her head back and laughed.

"Well," muttered Merlin. "I was hoping for at least incapacitated."

"Well you see Merlin," Morgause continued without giving any indication that she'd heard him. "It all comes down to this: we had Arthur and his Knights captured and about to be subdued and then… they disappear. And you're the only one left. Do you know what that reminds me of?"

Merlin shook his head mutely. Morgause's voice had become deceptively and dangerously soft as she leant down so her face was no more than a few inches from Merlin's.

"You somehow foiling all our plans over the years. You emptying the cup of life. You escaping from magically imbued chains." She paused, straightened, tilted her head, "Somehow, Merlin. It is always you."

"Sister you cannot possibly be suggesting-"

"I am not suggesting anything, sister. I am merely asking Merlin to offer us some enlightenment on the subject. So: why does a servant boy continually risk everything for Camelot?"

"I believe in a fair-"

"Oh, don't tell me this is based on principle!" Morgause exclaimed, frustrated. "There is something else," she said, her voice dropping again. "But what?" She began to pace the cell - which was no mean feat given the width of the place - "You're not in this for glory or recognition - if you were, I am sure you have been severely disappointed - so what?"

Merlin shook his head. "You would never understand."

"And then," Morgause continued as though he hadn't spoken. "There is the question of how? How is it that you come out of this unscathed every single time."

"It is a mystery," Merlin agreed. "Would you like to speed up the process and just let me go?"

"Oh no," Morgause said. "Not this time. You are not getting away now." She brought a finger up to her chin and tapped it against her face thoughtfully. She muttered an incantation which Merlin didn't recognise but he didn't have much time to muse on this; the words had barely left her lips before he was abruptly doubled over in pain.

It felt like he was being torn from the inside out, like his very soul was trying to break free. The fire spread from the centre of his body outwards until he was on fire and, oh God, why wouldn't it stop? How could he still be alive? Just kill him now, please, please…

And then, abruptly as it started, it stopped.

As did the screaming, which, Merlin realised belatedly, had been coming from him.

"Sister?" Morgana sounded troubled, Merlin registered dimly. And as he looked up, she was staring at him with an unfathomable expression, her face paler than he had ever seen it.

He became aware of a sheen of sweat clinging to his forehead as he craned his neck to see Morgause's face.

"Interesting," she said. "Interesting."

"Sister?" Morgana inquired again, and Merlin wondered if she actually knew Morgause's name.

"I just turned all potential magic that he possesses on to himself. Most people have a latent ability, but none as strong as that."

OK, Merlin wasn't being arrogant (he left that to Arthur) but, as painful as that had been (and it had been indescribably painful) there was no way that that had been all his magic.

Interesting, indeed.

It wasn't until he registered Morgana's shocked gasp that he realised what had just been revealed. He looked back down and kept his eyes firmly fixed on the floor, his teeth gritted.

"Yes," Morgause said, almost smugly. "It seems as though Merlin has been keeping quite a secret. It doesn't explain why I couldn't detect it of course - he seems to be almost as powerful as me."

Almost. Merlin snorted.

He was ignored.

"Merlin?"

It was the tone, rather than the voice that had his head shooting up. It would have been unfathomable to most; Morgana's tone was commanding, imperious… but it was also familiar. It reminded him of all those times before… before everything changed. When Morgana would shoot out orders to all and sundry. He wondered if he was the only one who could detect the vulnerability behind them.

He hadn't heard Morgana like that for a long time. And he did now.

His eyes met hers and he almost could bear to look into those eyes, accusatory they may be, but - as with the colours within them - there was something lurking under the surface.

Something like sadness.

Arthur couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it.

"You're telling me," he said slowly. "That _Merlin _has magic."

"Hallelujah!" Gwaine threw his hands up in the air. "He's finally got it."

"No. I do not 'have it'. It's impossible."

"Not impossible," Lancelot said quietly, his head still bowed. "Just a little improbable."

"Certainly, sire. You must have noticed that he is a very secretive person."

Three men all turned to look at Percival with equally shocked expressions upon their faces; they were fairly justified – it was the longest sentence they had ever heard him speak. Arthur shook his head; this day was getting stranger and stranger by the second.

"See," Gwaine said. "Even _Percival _has noticed. No offence, mate." He said as an aside. The larger Knight waved his hand dismissively.

"But I don't understand-"

"Sire, with all due respect, there will be time to explain later once we have ascertained whether _he is still alive." _Lancelot said through gritted teeth.

Arthur shook his head and whilst he did it merely to clear his thoughts, from the sharp intake of breath from Gwaine, he surmised that there could have been an alternate meaning construed by the Knight. He sighed. "You're right, of course. I-" he stopped. He didn't know what to say; he couldn't quite accept the idea that his idiotic servant had _magic_. But he couldn't ignore the fact that the same servant was currently captured and in grave danger.

"Right." Arthur said. "Let's get back to the castle. We can formulate a plan to rescue Merlin there."

A sigh of relief went round the Knights and Arthur wondered if any of them had actually thought he would give up on Merlin. It didn't matter, he thought. Merlin was in danger. He would deal with that first.

He could have a mental breakdown afterwards.

Lovely.

* * *

><p><em>Well, I bet you thought I'd given up on this story, huh? *insert awkward laugh here* Anyway, I'm sorry for the wait. I had a lack of inspiration to write it combined with computer issues. But, I've sorted computer issues and, with Merlin looming ever closer I am somehow inspired! Please review if there's anyone still reading this story.<em>


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